Mentoring Projects

Welcome to my web page! I have experimented on a lot of
minerals, and I came out with a lot of facts and data. Please look below
to see my data and results.

Introduction

A mineral is a natural, crytalline
(when atoms have a repeated pattern) solid that is created by heat and pressure
underground. The purpose of this project is to learn more about the physical
properties of minerals. Understanding physical properties can help you learn
about minerals. For example, you can identify unknown minerals by testing
their physical properties. In this experiment, I tested some physical properties
for 20 different minerals. After this test, I could find the identity of
all of my samples.

Methods
and Materials

The properties we tested were
streak, specific gravity, hardness, color, and luster. The materials were
a nail, a streak plate, a square of glass, a magnet, and a bottle of lemon
juice (used as an acid). For more information about these physical properties
click here.

Data
and Results

Click here to view the data
collected in this experiement. In the table below, these are the results
of the twenty minerals I tested some of the physical properties on.

Sample
#

Identification

#1

Quartz

#2

Graphite

#3

Calcite

#4

Hermatite

#5

Magnetite

#6

Flourite

#7

Biotite Mica

#8

Muscovite Mica

#9

Talc

#10

Halite

#11

Apatite

#12

Chert

#13

Sandstone

#14

Scorcia

#15

Conglomerate

#16

Feldspar

#17

Gypsum

#18

Shale

#19

Slate

#20

Chalco Pyrite

Conclusion

During this experiment, I learned a lot about mineral
facts, such as some of the physical properties like streak, specific gravity,
and hardness. I learned how to keep a lab book and how experiments work.
I thought that this experiment was fun, but long. The experiment worked
out as planned.